1 69 



haemorrhoids are beheved to yield to this treatment. In 

 Coimbatore native doctors prescribe a paste made by- 

 mixing chank powder in water or by rubbing it up with 

 human milk for use as a salve in the case of eruptions 

 (sties) on the eyelids. Chank ointments (basmams) are 

 also employed in the same district to cure inflammation 

 of the eye, the growth of bad flesh (granulation) on the 

 interior surface of the eyelids and also for piles and 

 leprosy. 



C hank-shell in the form of powder is also stated to 

 be taken internally in South Arcot, Salem, Madura and 

 Tinnevelly, either in water or mixed with ghee, as a 

 specific for skin eruptions, asthma, coughs, and also to 

 cool the system. In Salem and also in Ceylon it is 

 used as a remedy for consumption. Both in Tanjore and 

 Salem mixed with milk or water it is also employed as a 

 salve or lotion applied to pimples and boils. In Malabar 

 and South Canara, I am told, it is used in the case of 

 rickets (grakani), chank ring powder ground in water 

 being' rubbed on the breast. At Tanur a street quack 

 told me he used chank-shell powder internally as a 

 remedy in cases of varchcha (gonorrhoea, I believe). 

 In South Canara I heard of a similar use of this 

 specific ; in the latter case powdered pearl-shell and 

 chank ring were mixed with a little sugar — a little of the 

 mixture to be swallowed early in the morning. 



Among the Tuticorin Parawas a mixture of camphor 

 and chank powder is commonly used to relieve soreness 

 of the eyes. A small piece of camphor is partially 

 burned and then ground down in a small quantity of 

 human milk upon a flat stone by means of a small well- 

 cleaned chank-shell; a small amount of powder from the 

 shell is thus incorporated with this peculiar ointment ; 

 sometimes the white of an ^^% is substituted for human 

 milk. The ointment thus made is applied round the 

 eyelids ; it is reputed to effect a sure and speedy cure. 



Pounded chank-shell is also given internally by native 

 practitioners in Trichinopoly, Salem and Coimbatore to 

 those who suffer from an acute form of dyspepsia called 

 kunmam (<^6wncih). It is administered about three hours 

 after each meal — a treatment perfectly rational as the 

 carbonate of lime of which the shell is composed is well 

 adapted to counteract hyperacidity of the gastric fluids. 



